"Why are kids missing school because regardless of the reason, it impacts their academics," said Theresa Clincy with the Oakland School District.

Having that information led to outreach programs. Each school now has a team with an attendance manager. Each student is tracked.

So far, Oakland is having some success. In 2009, when they began to address the problem, 16 percent of students were chronically absent. Now, it's just over 11 percent.

Plant says it's easy to see why students get discouraged. "And eventually disengage and find someplace else to engage. There are other places in the world to engage, most of them are outside of the school building for a lot of kids," he said.